Dreamkeeper
by Hanyou Hitokiri
Summary: The line between dream and reality. It is drawn, but just how clear is it? Is it definite and exact, or is it a mere step forward, propelled by nothing but the fuel of a wish?
1. Chapter 1

Some things just can't be ignored. This would be one of them. It's a recent plot bunny that rabidly attacked my mind, and I liked it, so I agreed to write it out as long as the bunny stopped running rampant. It's also going to be a trilogy. Goodie goodie. What's with my apparent obsession with trilogies? I've no idea. They just seem to come out that way. Blame the bunnies. They run in packs of three, it seems. However, instead of having three different stories, I'll post them all in the same one to make things easier.

It's no update for _Lunar Eclipse_ or _Akutenshi_ but my betas and I have all been very busy lately. This one hasn't been run by either of them, so unless I find another beta beforehand, then I'll run this one by one of them when I finish one of the other stories.

I really shouldn't be starting something else, but…I was very weak this time… So, enjoy!

The rating is iffy. Sano has a mouth on him, so if anyone feels that because of that the rating should be upped, please let me know. Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own RK in any form or fashion.

* * *

_The Dreamland_

She'd just about had it. This was way too weird.

Go to sleep in one bed, a nice bed with plenty of springs jabbing into her back, and wake up in another, a really nice bed that feels like air with no morning pains that had to be worked out. It made for a boring morning. Well, putting the fact aside that someone had switched out her entire bed frame with another without waking her up during the night.

Fuzzy pink slippers, missing their holes on the bottom, were sitting right where her feet fell when Kaoru sat up. Those were her favorite pink, ugly slippers, too.

Kaoru, after calming from the stunning jolt, growled. Someone, and she had an idea of whom, was gonna get it real good.

The shower didn't have that faint smell, and Kaoru knew she hadn't gotten the chance to buy cleaner, much less actually clean the bathroom. That one was appreciated.

Her phone was missing. Wrapped in a brand new robe—it was really pretty so she couldn't leave it hanging on the back of the bathroom door—Kaoru searched her little, dingy, and wholly _temporary_ apartment for the ancient contraption that came with the place.

Funny how whoever had switched out nearly everything that she'd bought since her stay here didn't touch anything that was already in the apartment when she first moved in.

Except, of course, the stupid phone.

She found it on the counter in the kitchen hidden behind a large paper bag filled with, to her further surprise, and entire meal that only needed heating. Now that was a feat within her grasp, and she'd wanted a decent meal besides sandwiches and instant ramen.

But, who had she told recently?

Forgetting about it, Kaoru riffled the whole chicken, mashed potatoes, and dish of precooked veggies and found a DVD at the bottom.

"Dinner and a movie," she muttered to herself, flipping the case over to read the back.

It'd been a while since she thought about it, but this was a flick that she'd wanted to see way back when it was still in theaters, but never got the chance. Interest sparked, Kaoru completely ignored the fact that she had no DVD player.

It wasn't until she had Saturday morning breakfast of chicken and mash-potatoes, saving the vegetables for dinner, in the oven and on the stove heating and the DVD inside the player when she realized.

They'd gone too far.

Kaoru ran her hand over the DVD box. It was really nice, and really, really ridiculous.

Looking out the window, Kaoru realized the streets below were empty, and the silence crashed into her awareness. She'd enjoyed it so much she didn't notice that it was so quiet, just like she remembered complaining about being woken up early every Saturday when she wanted to catch up on sleep.

Now if only she could remember who it was she told.

When Kaoru took a moment and thought it over, everything new, everything cleaned, all of it was something she'd wished she could have or fussed about.

And it all made sense.

She laughed.

"Nice one, Kamiya," she chuckled to herself, surveying the sleeve of the robe she thought she was wearing.

She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. This was insane, suddenly having almost everything she'd wanted for the longest time. There was no magic evolved, and it wasn't a prank from a friend, but a prank on herself.

Well, she thought to herself as she pulled open her closet and surveyed all the new clothing with a silly smile, who am I to waste this opportunity?

She wasn't worried and didn't think twice when she felt the fabric of the clothes, and tasted the food. What was the term from Psych class? Lucid dream. Right, it was only a very vividly imagined dream.

And very mean, if she came right down to it. When she woke up and saw that everything was normal, she'd have to kick someone. Preferably someone she knew. Who would be the lucky one? They'll be the lucky one to find out.

Kaoru wondered how much more was gone, or switched. She shuffled her dresser top, looking for a few heirlooms that she'd wanted fix, and found the couple she talked about fixed. Like the ugly, pink slippers, she frowned when she found her old wristwatch had its lost band reattached and looking brand-spanking new, and like her slippers, she hoped that the originals were somewhere around. Yes, she wanted new ones, but she also wanted to keep the old ones.

Maybe, is she wanted them back enough they'd just appear out of nowhere since it was just a dream after all. It would make her feel better if she knew she still had them.

Her curiosity extended outward, and Kaoru found herself on a clean sidewalk in front of her once trashy building, and she didn't see the landlord when she came down the stairs either. That's a plus.

Just how much had she complained about anyway?

Kaoru saw a single car on the street, parked shining deep blue just outside the apartment. She glanced around and looked down into her purse, finding a car key at the bottom. She grinned. By the time she'd driven far enough away from her apartment, people were walking and driving the streets. It was as eerie as it was extremely cool. Still, she hoped the lack of noises wouldn't permanent for the extent of this dream.

When was she finally going to wake? Kaoru knew this was not real, but she still couldn't wake herself up. As long as things kept going smoothly, she didn't see a reason to wake up.

Since this imaginary world was going so nicely, Kaoru stopped by the haunt of a friend of hers. It was a dark bar and a hole in the wall that she usually avoided.

My dream, my way, she thought as she strode through the doors and was smacked with the smell of smoke, booze, and men. Lots of men, who all turned to take a gander at the pretty little thing that happened through the door. The women weren't interested in anything more than giving Kaoru a sizing-up glance and a glare.

The sense was very odd as it crawled over her, and Kaoru almost glanced down to see if suddenly she was I nothing but her underwear, or worse. She knew how dreams could go.

"Is Sanosuke here?" she asked the bartender, and almost immediately half of the room quickly lost interest in her.

The bartender lifted a brow. "Yeah. He's in the back with a few folks."

"Thanks," she beamed.

The back was just a bunch of rooms with missing doors where private parties could have some peace. They were decent sized rooms from what Kaoru could remember from a few weeks ago when Sano had a get-together with everyone for no reason but to party and get drunk without having to worry about getting back home.

She'd gotten tipsy that night, and couldn't remember much except for the absolute blast everyone had, and that she'd spoken with a friend of Sano's she never met before, whose face has stayed with her, even through the haze of everything else.

"Sano?" she called over the music echoing from the main room down the hall.

Second door down, Kaoru caught her breath, her fingers turning white against the brown trim of the doorframe.

"Kaoru," Kenshin smiled from his seat at one of the round tables. "I was waiting for Sano." He waved to the chair next to him. "Do you want to have a seat?"

The redhead didn't seem fazed that she was shaking her head and chuckling quietly to herself. His smile didn't falter or change while he watched her laugh and wave a finger at him.

"I get it," she said with a sigh. "I get it, ok? This is perfect. Just perfect. I get everything else I wanted, so why not this?"

Something flickered in his violet, flower petal eyes, but Kaoru was too busy cutting up at herself to notice. Kenshin's smile still didn't waver.

Kaoru looked him square in the eye before shaking her head again. "Look at me…"

"I am," he said after a moment.

She frowned. "Not you. Me. Me look at me. I've lost it! I haven't even known you a month and I'm already dreaming about you." Her finger was waving accusingly again. "So I can wake up any second now, that'd be great."

Kenshin was confused, and it showed, but that something was in his eyes again, sparkling.

"Kaoru, what are you talking about?"

Something in his voice said he already knew, somehow, and Kaoru growled, stalking towards him to lean over the table.

"This is ridiculous," she said, finger up and in his face. "This is ridiculous, and you know it. How would you know it?" she went back on her words, standing up and paced. "I know it, but you don't."

"Know what, Kaoru?" he asked quietly.

"You're not what I want," she accused him again, as if the conversation was normal. She couldn't wait until something woke her up. Where were those cars and screaming people out on the streets when they were needed for once? "I haven't _known_ you long enough."

Kenshin blinked calmly. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!"

He stood.

"Hey!" She put her palm out to stop him. He stopped halfway up, but backed his chair away from the table so it wouldn't hit the back of his knees. Her eyes ran over his dark jeans and grey t-shirt with a little logo patched on the left of his chest. She didn't give herself time to read it. "Don't come close to me!"

"Kaoru?" Sano asked from behind.

"Sano!" She backed into him, not realizing she was backpedaling from the room. "Take care of this!"

Brown eyes glanced from her to Kenshin, who was calm as ever, if not seemingly a bit uncomfortable.

"Take care of what?"

"Him! Your friend! He's playing around with me, and I don't really appreciate it. So…so, do something. That's what!"

Kaoru almost sighed with relief when Sano's confusion hardened, and his face became very grim.

"Whatever the hell you did, you gonna explain it?" he asked Kenshin.

The redhead nodded.

Kaoru blinked between the two of them. "What? Explain what?"

Sano looked down at Kaoru and answered her request. "Hell no, I'm not taking care of this, cause he is." Sano inclined his messy head toward Kenshin. "I would if I could, Missy. You'll understand, maybe." He looked at Kenshin, his jaw tight. "Don't fuck this up."

When Sano turned and walked out, Kaoru was speechless. She turned, ready to yell, to get some answers, ready and willing to just wake up, but she ran face-first into a chest instead.

Kenshin caught her and steadied her, but let go when she yanked her arm.

"Kaoru, I know that this'll be hard to grasp," he began, earning a glare as she sat down and crossed hr arms. "But you have to listen, at least. You understand?"

Bending down to look her in the eye, he got her attention, but she looked away, closing her eyes and chanting, "It's only a dream, it's only a dream…"

"But it's not a dream," Kenshin said lightly. "Not the dream you think it is."

She opened an eye. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Do you remember the party?"

She nodded.

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

So it was him she spoke to. Interesting.

Kaoru opened her eyes and frowned. Why was she remembering the party in a dream? It didn't make sense. She didn't want to have another party. Yet anyway. And she didn't want a repeat of that one two and a half weeks ago, no matter how fun it was. There wasn't any information that she hadn't already process. Thinking back to her class, she couldn't remember anything else about dream interpretation except that all of this could be nothing more than wants and needs.

Wants and needs. It was all wants, but what was it she needed? It didn't make any sense.

"Kaoru, you have to think past that," Kenshin said firmly, almost as if he saw what passed through her mind and read it like a book.

"That this really isn't a dream," she answered blandly.

"Yes. Because-"

"It's not."

"Right."

"Go on."

Kenshin shook his head. "Don't be like this, or you won't understand."

"I said go on."

He sighed. "The party? When you were very…open from all your drinks, do you remember what you said?"

"Yeah," she replied grudgingly. "I was talking about all the crap in my apartment and in my life right now, and how I wanted it all to change. But, you know, I'm not really like that. It's just, I was a little off that night. It's not that important. I'll get by with what I got."

She was explaining herself to an apparition inside a dream. Worse, an apparition that was actually a man, and a man who she had almost instantly had a very high school crush on. Humiliating didn't even begin to cover it, but she felt that she was also talking to herself. Odd, but it made sense, what she was saying aloud.

"Really," she looked into his eyes, which were closer than they were a moment ago. "I'll be ok."

Kenshin nodded, as if in agreement. "That's also what you said, very vehemently. But I wanted to change it, Kaoru. I wanted to change everything, but I knew I couldn't, so I only changed what you said, what you wanted most."

Now she was very confused, and staring at him. "You did all that? By yourself?"

"Yes."

"How come I didn't know you were in my apartment? And how the hell did you get _inside_ my apartment in the first place?! Was it Sano?" she fumed. "Did he give you a key? Oh, that's it. I'm taking that key back, and I'm taking the hand that gives them back to me also. I've _had_ it with the jokes-"

"Kaoru! It wasn't a joke!" Kenshin held her shoulders, kneeling in front of her. "It's not a joke, you have to believe me. I did exchange everything for you, but I did it alone. Only I could do that anyway. Sano had nothing to do with it."

"Well, in any case, it was a good joke, Kenshin."

He seemed pained and tried to explain. "It's not a joke, Kaoru. Why would I joke around with something like this?"

Kaoru looked into his eyes for a long moment, and was almost lost within their color and depth. She could have been sucked in completely, gotten lost, and would have been happy to. But it was going to end sooner or later, and later would be more of a blow.

"I want to wake up now," she whispered.

"You don't believe me," he said, a whisper also.

Kaoru opened her mouth, but couldn't answer. "I don't…I don't know."

Kenshin nodded serenely. He wasn't upset, and he wasn't going to force her to get anything.

"You still think you're asleep, and that you're only dreaming."

Kaoru thought about it, swallowed, and said it anyway, taking the jump "It'd be way too good to be real."

"I can make it better."

Kaoru froze, her breath gone, and it wasn't coming back any time soon. She thought she'd suddenly forgotten how to breathe, but couldn't really tell. He was so close, closer than he'd been a minute ago. When had that happened?

"Since this is only a dream, then you won't mind…"

He kissed her, softly and slowly. Kaoru was glad she was sitting in the chair. It was a warm kiss, but there was something he was holding back from her, she knew when he ran his tongue over her bottom lip. Something, and dream or not, Kaoru wanted to know what it was.

But it ended too soon to test it.

Kenshin looked into her eyes, running his fingers over her cheek and jaw. That flicker was a flame, and it burned from his eyes, curling her toes. When he blinked, it diminished, but it wasn't gone.

Standing, Kenshin whispered her to stay there with a shaky voice that confused her, and confused her even more when he apologized. And she was tired of being confused. She couldn't have followed him from the room anyway. She was focused on the trailed of fire that his fingers had left, and licked her smoldering lips. Waiting until he got back was a grand idea, then she could smother him with demands…a couple different demands possibly, she wasn't exactly sure yet.

She looked up expectantly when someone walked in, but it was Sano. It was his turn to be uncomfortable as he shifted from one foot to the other. Kaoru took her hand from her cheek, where she forgot it was, and glanced behind him.

"Where's Kenshin?" Her voice was a whisper, but it was loud in her ears.

Sano ducked his head, but she saw an angry light in his eyes before he hid, and handed her a small piece of paper ripped from the corner of a notebook. He stepped back when she took it, her eyes searching his face and stance, wondering what was wrong.

The handwriting on the paper was horrible, but she could read it easily enough.

_I'm so sorry, Kaoru. It's the only wish I can't fulfill._

The paper fell from her fingers, and she looked up at Sano.

No. It wasn't a dream after all. It was a friggin nightmare from her standpoint, and, at least for the moment, it was as real as it could get.

* * *

An odd whim, but I like it. I'll try my very best to have _Akutenshi_ updated next, for anyone here who reads it. If it seems like it'll be a long wait, I'll have the second chapter of this up instead.

Reviews are appreciated, but no flames. Criticism is more than welcomed, but no flames.


	2. Chapter 2

The next chapter will be action-y…wow. I hope that this explains some things…but also causes more questions and confusion! Haha!

Again, no beta yet, so there will be mistakes. I apologize beforehand.

Oh, and this chapter's **rating** is **raised** because of Sano's mouth (coughpottymouthcough) just in case. Other than that, it's fine for now.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

* * *

It took a couple days, but Kaoru was ready for answers, for something.After time staring at the brand new objects laying around her apartment, and silently wallowing in some pit, she was willing to try and understand. Or wake up, as she'd been waiting for. Could someone live a full two days in a dream?

Kenshin hadn't been back since last Saturday, not even to stop by to see Sano. In fact, Sano said that Kenshin left town, but that he didn't know where.

Kaoru had her doubts about that.

It was what stirred around enough to push her out the door, and to the bar late the following Monday night. She had to build up to actually walk into the bar, just in case Sano was covering Kenshin's ass as he just hid out, and if she ran into him again. Although, half of her wanted Sano to be hiding Kenshin's ass and the rest of him, just so she knew Kenshin wasn't actually gone. Strange to say she missed him, a lot.

Once again, the bar's crowd turned to examine the possible prey, but it was only about half. She asked the bartender, a different one from before, where Sano was, and the burly man pointed a meaty finger behind her.

"Sano!"

"What are you doing here again, Missy?" he asked, looming over her shoulder. He must have seen her walk in, and all the eyes she caught.

The rest of the crowd only needed a little confirmation that Sanosuke actually did know her, and turned away, uninterested anymore, and unwilling to poke any anger. It must have been steaming earlier.

Kaoru saw his red knuckles, the skin split on his right hand.

"Sano, are you picking fights again?"

He glanced at his hands, and pulled the toothpick from between his lips. "No. They pick me. I just finish 'em."

Kaoru clucked her tongue. "Have you seen Megumi about your hands yet?"

"Hell no," he snorted. "I only go see her when it's really bad. She'd just chop them off if I went in as many times as I should have."

"Are you going to see someone else?" she took his right hand. He let her examine the cut and prod it with her finger, then her nail. He didn't flinch like she wanted, so she let him go and a darkly playful smile passed between them both.

Sano snorted again, replacing the toothpick. "And pay for someone who doesn't even know what the hell they're doing?"

It was true. Ever since she'd known him, Sano has been two things: cheap and too stubborn to go see a doctor about anything less than a near amputation. When Megumi came into the scene about two years ago as an intern aspiring to be a doctor with the talent and skill to do so, and do so very well, Sano had recognized that and immediately brought his roughhousing, bar fighting cuts and bruises to her. From a recent conversation with Megumi, Kaoru knew that Sano had come to her with more hand injuries than she'd have patients in a day. Kaoru knew Megumi had no problem treating Sano's wounds, and truthfully, Kaoru knew the woman enjoyed it. It was time spent that they normally wouldn't have together, and Kaoru thought it was absolutely adorable, but she never said anything. Let them figure it out on their own was her philosophy.

But, because Sano was, well, Sano, Kaoru was beginning to loose her patience, and so was Megumi, if that party a month ago had anything to say about it. The poor Rooster-head had no idea what was coming.

"As long as you take care of it," Kaoru said, eyeing him.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you. Starting to sound like the Fox-lady, so watch out." He gave her a look and a smile. "So, whatchya here for, Missy? Can't be the people cause they're all a bunch of jackasses," he said loudly, making sure whoever he was aiming that toward heard it.

Her smile faded, and so did his when she wouldn't answer.

"What? Don't tell me… Do I gotta kick someone's ass for you?"

She laughed. "No. not that. I was wondering about…Kenshin."

Sano shifted on his feet, and looked away.

"No! Hey, don't ignore me Sanosuke. I think I have a right to know."

"Know what? I thought he cleared everything up a couple nights ago," he grumbled.

"Sano you were _there_. You know that's the farthest thing from the truth, which is what I'm trying to find out."

Sano's look was clearly surprised and a little bit worried. He watched her face, and saw the willingness to become violent in order to get him to cave if being nice wasn't going to work. He sighed, rubbing his neck. "God, I don't know Kaoru. I mean, if the guy's gone, he's gone, you know?"

She saw his vulnerability and was prodding it like a cow towards slaughter. In front of the rest of the guys, it was wounding. Very fixable, but still.

"Fine. I'll see if I can help you out. I don't think I can, but we can try this on for size and maybe compare some things. But, I've warned you that I don't know much already, got it?"

Kaoru nodded her head, fighting against the confused frown pulling her brows together. "Got it."

"We're going somewhere else too. Hey, Mike!" he called to the bartender. "Put it on my tap, alright! I've got to scram for the night!"

The burly man behind the bar nodded, but with a very deep frown.

"And just how big is that tab?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't know," Sano answered. "Haven't paid any of it in almost a year."

"A year! Sano!"

"Ok, ok. It's been about six months."

He ushered her outside and stopped when they reached her car, tossing his brown jacket over his shoulder.

"Why don't we take this thing?" he pointed.

"Do you want to drive?"

"Hell yeah. Can I?"

"Where are we going?"

"Down the block."

"Then no," she shook her head with a short laugh. "We can walk."

He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Kaoru thought for a moment. There were many things she'd like to know. Like where exactly Kenshin was. More importantly, what he meant when he said that he couldn't fulfill her wish, and what wish he meant.

She couldn't really fool herself, but Kaoru didn't want to have any hold on hope. It was hard, what with him kissing her like he did. That kiss was filled with hope, something she didn't need lifting her spirits just in case they fell and so they wouldn't have that far to fall.

He replaced everything in her apartment, fine. She believed that somewhat. She wanted to know how, but she believed him now. Part of that came from her drilling her other friends, seeing if they had any information they wanted to spill, but they didn't. Not even Sano, as Kenshin proclaimed.

None of them had even seen Kenshin after the party, except Misao saw him once at the grocery store. They had a small chat, and that's it.

Where to start?

"Everything," she answered, smiling up at him.

Sano rolled his eyes, holding the door open to the small diner for her. "That's general. C'mon, Missy. Help _me_ out here. Be more specific. I'm not a fountain of Kenshin information."

Sano requested a table for two, and moved when the waitress sat them at a table in the middle of the room. He draped his jacket on the back of the chair sitting against the back wall, facing everyone else and the front door for him to keep an eye on. Kaoru had a sense that this conversation was about to get weird, if not frustrating.

The waitress found them, and didn't say a thing abut their move except to ask what they wanted to drink. Kaoru ordered a Sprite, and Sano a Coke, light on the ice.

"Can I get anything special for you two?" their waitress asked with a bright smile.

Kaoru burst into a fit of giggles and Sano knit his brow a bit, leaning back. The waitress' smile faded, but to her credit, it remained.

"Ah, no," Sano said politely. "No thanks."

With Kaoru still snorting, the young waitress nodded and walked to man her other customers.

"What was that all about?" he muttered.

Kaoru laughed, throwing her head back. Sano frowned.

"What's that for?"

"Oh, come on!" she smiled. "That's hilarious! I mean, there's not a…a," she stammered, waving her hand around, "prospect of _that_ ever happening!"

Sano shifted in his seat, one leg stretched out from under the table and his back resting on the corner of the walls, and elbow on the table edge. His frown deepened. "Yeah, I know. But you gotta be so blatant about it?"

Another fit of giggles, and Kaoru placed her palms on the tabletop, leaning forward with a broad grin. "Something's been messing with your image, Sano?" she teased.

"Hell yeah. Someone has," He looked away, slightly wounded but acting more so than he really was. Messing with Sano's image was like messing with a brick wall using a plastic spoon. There wasn't much harm that could really be done. Save for one who was sharp enough to chip his block, and Kaoru personally knew just how sharp she could be.

Kaoru hid her teeth, but continued to smile. "Aw, cheer up. We can talk about something else to get your mind off of it." She reached to pat his hand as he rolled his eyes, scoffing loudly.

After they both had their drinks, Sano began again, washing away the hilarity.

"So?" he prompted.

Kaoru took a deep breath, thought about how bad this was going to sound, and said it anyway. "Has…he said anything? About me, I mean. Kenshin. Has he said…?"

Sano almost grinned, and she could see that flicker in his eyes. Kaoru scowled. "Before you turn on me, Missy," he said with laughter in his voice, "I should let you know that I can't say."

"Can't say what?"

"I can't answer that question. He keeps to himself a lot, but he's readable, sometimes, like you are. Especially now. I told you not to get mad at me. I said he was readable, but he's subtle too. So I don't know."

"He never said anything, and you couldn't tell if there was anything that he wanted to say either. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying."

She crossed her arms, a stubborn tilt to her chin. "How would you know?"

He pointed to his chest. "I've known Kenshin longer," he faltered, but picked back up. "And I just know. Besides, you've only met him, what, two times?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she sipped her drink. "What does that have to do with anything? What if I think it doesn't really matter either?"

"Then I'd say you might have some…reconsidering to do."

"Is that what you think?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Is that what _he_ thinks?"

Sano tapped a finger on the light blue table, scratching his short nail over the textured face. "I'm not supposed to _tell_ you want he thinks."

"But you know?"

"Maybe. Ask me something else."

Kaoru glared at him and took a sip from her clear straw. "Where is he?"

"Ask me something else."

"That _is_ something else!"

"Then ask me something else, else!"

She lifted her brows. "Else else?"

"You know what I mean. I'll answer what I can, Missy, but that's it. I told him I wouldn't spill some of the beans he picked me not too. He's so secretive that I don't _have_ anything really to spill, nothing willingly. If he doesn't want to be found, then he doesn't want to be found. I can't help that."

"You don't even know where he is," she stated, no asking.

"Yeah. I've no idea where he is, ok? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't tell you even if I did know. He was so…so fixed about it. Freaked me out," Sano scratched the back of his head and shook it, waving his wild tuffs of hair around.

Kaoru's lip twitched and she relaxed her narrowed eyes. "Fine. Here's an easy one. How did he buy everything in my apartment to replace all that stuff?"

"What stuff? He bought stuff for your apartment?"

Kaoru chewed her bottom lip. Whoops. "I didn't tell you about that?"

"Didn't tell me what?"

"I'm the one looking for answers here," she tried. He wasn't buying it. She sighed. "The day I was looking for you at the bar…when I woke up that morning every…this is going to sound so stupid, but everything in my apartment was replaced."

"Everything?"

"Well, no. Just some stuff that I was really getting tired of, and some things I wasn't."

"Why were you looking for me? I didn't do it."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "I know that _now_."

"Do you know who it was?"

"I didn't."

"But you do now."

"Yeah," she said slowly, nodding. "Do you know anything about it?"

"What? No. Who was it?"

Kaoru looked away, string at the opposite wall for a while, gnawing her lip again. "When I ran into Kenshin, and you asked him to fix whatever it was he'd done…"

"Kenshin?!" Sano pounded the table with his fist. "Kenshin's pulling crazy shit on you?"

Kaoru was about to defend the redhead, oddly enough, when Sano sat back, bewildered but scanning for something with a frown, eyes distant.

"What?" she asked lightly, allowing him to think. "Did he tell you something?"

He shook his head, cutting his hand through the air as if cutting the thought away. "No. What did he explain to you? About what he did? Did he say how?"

"He said that he wanted to change everything," she thought back. "But that he couldn't. And that it wasn't a joke. He wasn't very helpful, especially after he kissed me." She rubbed her face with her hands, pressing against her eyelids with her fingertips until spots danced in front of her eyes.

Sano's eyes were wide when she opened hers again. "He kissed you, Missy?"

A mistake to tell the Rooster, no doubt, Kaoru immediately knew. She rubbed her face again. "Yes! Ok? He did. Do _not_ look at me like that."

"I was wondering why you had that look, Missy. Surprised I didn't realize, but, really, I never thought…" He shrugged. "Ah, well."

"Why were you so mad, anyway?" she asked. Anything to get the subject away from Kenshin and those pesky lips of his.

"Ah, I was pissed 'cause I thought he'd screwed you over or something, and that's why you were through the roof. Turns out, he did, but in a different way than I thought." His frown returned, but it wasn't angry, it was thoughtful.

"Kenshin told me that it all wasn't a dream either."

That got his interest, and Kaoru, after leaving her mouth open for a second from his attention snap, proceeded to explain.

"I thought it was all a dream, and, to tell you the truth, I still think it is. Somehow… And he told me it wasn't."

"I'll be damned…" Sano rubbed his forehead, and when he turned back to Kaoru, the bandanna around his head was askew and forgotten. "That's a familiar speech."

Kaoru sat straighter. "He told you the same thing? He replaced old crap and gave you things?"

"No, though the idea isn't half-bad, if he can really do it. I need some new stuff-" He jumped when she kicked him under the table. "All he said," he glared, "was to give him a 'call' or something in my dreams whenever I wanted to, you know, see him. He moves around a lot, and he's a really good friend of mine."

"And you don't believe him?"

"Would you believe that? No, I don't believe him! That's nuts! The guy's great, I've known him a while, but he's crazy. Not like mental and straightjacket kind of crazy, but really weird. Like the oddballs you see on TV and shit. He's always been that way. And he loves history."

Kaoru watched him recover from his little outburst and lifted her eyebrows. "What wrong with liking history?"

"Honestly, who loves history?"

Kaoru shrugged. "I like history. It's interesting."

"That's not the point. The point is he's weird…in a good sorta way, and that he loves messing with people. Like with riddles and asking all the wrong questions. Loves it. I can't take him anywhere without him starting something with the hardest ass in the place."

Kaoru frowned in surprised, not saying anything since her straw was in her mouth.

"Yeah," Sano continued, nodding exuberantly, and silently hoping that some of this was taking the edge off of her curiosity about Kenshin. "It's always when I'm not around, so I don't really get to see anything. He takes care of himself pretty damn good though. I never get to help him out. He takes some sort of martial art I think."

Kaoru swallowed. "What kind?"

"I dunno. He never told me. It's some family secret thing, passed down in the generations crap. And that ain't the half of it," he leaned in, obviously loosened up to tell since he could. This must not have been something Kenshin didn't want told. "The martial arts and the whole 'I'll come to you in your dreams' shit, which kinda creeped me out. I don't want to see some man in my dreams, but anyway."

Kaoru leaned forward also, and Sano lowered his voice a bit, glancing over her should.

"I think the guy should become a writer since he's so good at making crap up, but he said something about what he does and why he's always gone, and why he never answers his goddamn phone. It's this thing called the Dreamworld."

"The Dreamworld?"

"Yeah, the Dreamworld. It's where people's wishes and dreams come from, like in a list for someone to read. And Kenshin, well, he said that he works in this dream-thing."

"So that's why he knew what I wanted…but I told him. He only replaced what I told him."

"I told you it's a bunch of shit. I mean, I've never seen his house, so I don't know just how rich or poor the guy is. He's just messing with you, Missy. He does that. About that kiss, though…" He scratched his head, moving to sit against the wall again. "Hell, I don't know _what_ to say about that. And I'm really sorry, Missy, but he's already hightailed it outta here again. That much I do know."

"So, you think he…?"

"Left?" Sano snorted. "Yeah, he's gone. Bastard. I'll kick his skinny little ass next time I see him. I would have stopped him if I'd known about all this."

Kaoru watched as Sano's fingers drummed on the side of his nearly empty Coke glass. She guessed she always knew it, but just didn't really want to think about it, that Kenshin really had left, skipped out. At an opportune time too, after having that little moment in the bar. It made her question his open and trusting face, made her question what was really going on behind those calm, oddly colored eyes. She thought she had felt a glimpse of something, caught the shadow as it passed by when he kissed her. Whatever it was had been too powerful to even think she had imagined it.

Or had it been too powerful to be real?

This whole "dream world" scheme sounded like a bunch of hooey and a really sad excuse for having left without so much as a word. But Sano wouldn't have gone along with deceiving her. He would have flat out slugged anyone in the face for even thinking about lying to her face. Sano doing the same to Kenshin was a stretch, but he sure wouldn't have been sitting here feeding her a bunch of crap just because he was asked, best friend or not.

And here he was, giving her the only explanation that he had from the redheaded odd-man. Sano already expressed clearly that he didn't believe a single thing that Kenshin had said, friend or not, but he was telling her what Kenshin had told him. That had to mean Sano really didn't have anything else or better.

Do or don't. Should she believe them, or not?

Her eyes widened. It was worth a shot at least.

"Sano, you said that he said he'd come to you in your dreams if you called him, right?"

"That's what he said, yeah. Why?"

Elbows propping her up, she almost bounced from her chair onto the tabletop. "Then maybe it'll work for me too."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now, hold it Missy. You're aren't saying-"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she smiled. "I mean, it's worth a shot. He's weird, and we both know it now. So, why not? If it doesn't work, then we both kick his skinny little ass when he comes back."

It was simple. She wouldn't explain herself to Sano, but she was still rooted in this all being some drawn-out dream. With the nuttiness, how could it be anything else?

"You want him that bad, huh?" he grinned, wriggling his dark eyebrows up and down.

Eyes darkening, her grin was vicious and tight. "That's not what I meant, Sano."

"Ok, but that's about as much want you can have for someone," he stated matter-of-factly, tipping his Coke glass back.

Kaoru took his unused straw and ripped a small piece of the wrapper off, shooting the rest of the paper at him.

"Say what you want, Sano, but my curiosity has been sparked," she amended his statement, but secretly wondered, only for a moment, if what he implied was true. All of it, of course. After all, it was only spontaneous and unexplainable improving switches to most of her material things and one kiss from a man that doesn't really know her, not to mention she doesn't known him either.

She was having a very hard time convincing herself that it was as simple as she'd wanted.

* * *

I really like this chapter. I usually stink at conversations but this, I think, is one of my best feats. I'm very proud of myself. -Blush-

Let me know if anything is bad enough for me to fix right away. That's always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Watsuki-sama does! And all those others who had enough money to buy rights or something. Obviously, I don't have that kind of luxury.

(((())))

_The Dreamworld_

"You've really thought about this," Sano said, rubbing the back of his head. He was giving a look across his apartment at his TV and a little pinch appeared between his eyes.

"Yes, I have. Probably too much, but that's all part of the plan." Kaoru's voice responded through the crackle of static on the phone line. "I hope this works."

"I thought you'd be over this whole thing by now. So you got a buncha new toys around the house. Why not be happy with what you got?"

"Because, Sano, for one, this is really getting stupid, and I'm tired of waiting for all of the drama to end. Second, why not try something weird and different out? I've got nothing to loose."

Sano frowned. "Whatever, Missy. As long as you don't fall off the bed or never wake up, then I guess it's alright with me."

Kaoru laughed, and used a voice that boisterous Aunts in movies use on their small, unexpecting nephews as they pinched their cheek. "Oh, Sano. You're hilarious. Now, I've got to go sleep and see what I can see. Bye!"

"Bye."

Sano was still frowning, staring at the phone in his hand. He glanced at the clock and lifted an eyebrow. The dirty clock above his small refrigerator read nine on the dot. Who in their right mind went to bed at nine on a Friday night? Who went to bed at all on a Friday night?

_So Missy's almost as weird as Kenshin is_, Sano chuckled to himself and snatched his coat off of the closet doorknob on his way out.

Somehow, that still didn't make any of this settle very well with him.

(())

Kaoru crawled under the covers, finally yawning after her third cup of warm milk, something that always put her to sleep, but for some reason wasn't working. She only hoped she wouldn't 'wake up' having to go to the bathroom.

Really, she was hoping that by going to bed, like she'd done the whole time during the duration of this wild and weird dream, would actually wake herself up. So far it hadn't worked, but dreaming about drinking three cups of anything would just about have anyone up and headed for the bathroom in the middle of the night.

She was out in minutes, and the next thing she knew light was shining in her bleary eyes. It wasn't the morning sun, that's for sure. A ginormous ball of raging hot gasses was a pleasant light compared to that of her ghoulish alarm clock. She thought she'd turned the damn thing away, but that bright, obnoxious green light was blinking lazily in her face. Static from the radio was hissing in the background, which meant the old monster finally got too old to carry on in this modern world.

Good. It was a perfect excuse to take a hammer to it.

Kaoru rubbed her eyes and sat up, a sharp point immediately screaming from her back. Her old bed was back and with a vengeance. Kaoru groaned when she stood and had to look for her slippers instead of having them sitting right there waiting. One under the bed, as usual, and the other was nowhere to be found. Stupid, ugly thing. She loved both of them.

With one slipper on, the floor touching the bottom of her foot where the holes were, and one slipper AWOL, Kaoru lurched into the kitchen, but not without looked at her TV first, finding no DVD player. The phone was in place, and there wasn't a bag of yummy food to eat sitting on the counter. Perfect.

She burned breakfast and stretched routinely, ridding her kinks and pains from sleeping in that bed. Fully awake and full of black burnt eggs—she always knew that she'd eventually build up all kinds of odd immunities to things that science had yet discovered from having to eat her own cooking every day—Kaoru could have skipped to her closet to find something to wear from her old wardrobe.

In all honesty, she missed some things from that dream of hers, the new clothes being one of them for sure. And the nice and quiet, but who wanted silence all the time? That's what music was for, and city life. She could hear the traffic and the people on the streets. The car that always drove by at the same time in the morning passed by with its window-rattling music. Instead of being irritated, Kaoru had made it a time-keeper, and it was now telling her that time had slipped by.

She dressed in some old jeans and a favored shirt with an adorable bunny on it—Misao had picked it out and Kaoru couldn't help but buy it—and grabbed for her car keys. She checked the maker and, sure enough, the keys read Ford. Her Rust Bucket was back home!

Tossing the keys into the air and snatching them back, Kaoru took another glance at her apartment with a silly smile, and headed for the door. She locked it behind her, and the keyhole jammed just like it always did, and was bounding down the stairs, wondering what exactly she was to do with herself on such a wonderful Saturday morning when a rough cough caught her attention.

It was the landlord. His scruffy, unshaven self was standing at his downstairs door, keys in hand, as he turned a red-eyed glare on Kaoru.

"Wot the hell are you doing up so early?"

Kaoru shifted toward the door, smelling the strong mask of alcohol hovering over him. "Good morning," she tried, but only deepened the wrinkles on his face.

"It ain't no morning, and it sure as hell ain't good," he muttered, pushing his door open with more force than was necessary. Something inside his room snapped when he fell, cursing loud enough to wake a neighbor, who started a string of his own curses as he pounded his floor on the second story above the landlord.

As she scooted quickly for the front door, Kaoru could almost hear her father, "What kind of place have you put yourself in, little rose?"

She smiled when she stepped outside, but her mouth fell open in pure shock. She almost screamed.

There he stood, eyeballing her truck resting at the curb like he would an imbecile at one of his business meetings. Koshijirou never was one to hide his true feelings, and it was a trait, or flaw, that he passed to his only child.

He looked at Kaoru, arms folded, and lifted a dark brow high above a light brown eye. "And I'm not very fond of this machine either."

When he stepped forward, Kaoru took four steps back, tripping over something at her feet, but not taking her eyes off the man in front of her.

Koshijirou Kamiya frowned, stepping forward again, pushing his terrified daughter back even more. "Kaoru? What's wrong, Kaoru?"

His voice was deep, just as she remembered. His face was angular and strong, willful as it was kind, just as she remembered. His eyes were wise and soulful, and screamed his concern.

"Koshijirou?" It was a voice that Kaoru heard only when she was very little, but one that she would never forget. A body followed that voice, but it was blurry, just like Kaoru's hazy memory of her mother. She was a thin woman, small, just like Kaoru. Her striking blue eyes and stark black hair were the only things that were clear on the woman. The rest of her features were shrouded in mystery.

Kaoru's father held out his arm for his wife, and turned to face her. "I don't know. She won't tell me." There was frustration in his eyes now, frustration and anger for whoever was causing his little rose such horror-stricken grief, not knowing that he himself and the woman beside him was the cause.

They were dead. They were dead and Kaoru knew it. Her mother had lived long enough to see her fourth birthday, and her father passed on three years ago. They weren't alive, but they were standing right in front of her.

Her mother's eyes were sharp with worry. "Kaoru? Tell us what's wrong."

She screamed, and they reeled in surprise. Kaoru wasn't sure if they were following her, but she hoped to God they weren't.

What was this? This, this was supposed to be real; this was supposed to be reality. But as she looked up at the sky, it was still dark with early morning, not twinkling with dawn. The sidewalks were filled to the brim with people, and the traffic wasn't moving at all. In fact, it was headed in every direction. A line formed to go this way, and another line of cars was waiting to go another way. Horns blared at this time of night, but no one was complaining about the ruckus. Once Kaoru had run far enough, a few blocks at most and she still wasn't tired, which was interesting since she knew even with how physically fit she was, running that far should have winded her long before now, once she was a distance that she felt safe in, she stopped.

Kaoru looked around. It was the same old city. Tall buildings. The lights were off in some and on in others, but that shouldn't be too odd. She'd seen about as bizarre as things could get already. All the streetlights were on. She jumped when she looked down.

The ground was gone. In its place was a patch of the sky.

Kaoru decided that she hadn't run far enough, and ran again. The ground was fine after that.

Still fine from her exercise—Kaoru blamed the rush of adrenaline and the numbness of fear for her unnatural ability. It would haunt her later on, she knew—Kaoru stopped again when a familiar neon sign caught her eye. Sano's bar.

She ran inside, throwing the door open. Smoke and other smells assaulted her as she began pushing through the crowd. Had it ever been so packed in her few visits? Even being small, Kaoru could barely get pass the press of bodies.

Well, it was a Friday night/Saturday morning, but wouldn't someone want to have some sleep before the sun rose?

The bar was supposed to be here by now, she thought as she wriggled free from being squashed between two men with beer-bellies that, had she stopped to actually look, were excessively large for men their sizes.

Finally, after a short eternity, Kaoru broke free from the mass, and stumbled into the bar only to find that no one was behind the counter.

"Shoot,"

"Kaoru!" Sano called, waving at her from the other end of the bar. "There you are. Get your little bitty butt over here!"

"Sano!" she all but screamed, running in the thin, completely empty space between the crowd and the bar. Apparently, nobody wanted a drink.

"Sano, wait! I've got to talk to you!"

Was he shrinking, or was the distance growing larger?

Imagination, Kaoru reminded herself when she reached his side suddenly. Now she was panting for breath? Where was this before?

Sano was still grinning like a complete moron when she approached him, but she couldn't get a word out of her mouth she was breathing so hard.

"Hey, Missy. We were about to start without you. What took you so long?"

"Wh-what?" she panted, hands on her knees as her chest heaved.

"Never mind. You're here, we've _been_ here. So let's get this show on the road."

Kaoru blinked and the scenery changed. Did she pass out, because, last she knew, that table wasn't supporting her head.

She sat up, and blinked at the heavy laughter around her and, for the umpteenth time that night, morning, whatever, she froze.

The party. _That_ party. Wasn't that a month ago?!

Kaoru stood so fast that she fell completely head-over-heels when her feet slipped on something, tumbling her backwards in the chair.

Laughter roared.

Someone clapped her on the back. It was a small hand, so it stung.

"I think that you've had a bit enough, Kaoru," Misao said giddily, a half-empty fruity drink in her other hand.

"I haven't had anything,' Kaoru protested, trying to get to her feet while frowning at Misao and looking to see what was all over the damn floor. Misao laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard, and stumbled away into the calm, completely sober arms of Aoshi.

That's right. He was stuck playing designated driver for everyone that night after Sano convinced a tired Megumi that one sip would wake her up. Kaoru thought that it was just the excuse, no matter how dumb, that Megumi had been looking for in order to get her mind off of work for a little while. No one really blamed Megumi for shirking her driving duty; there had been a bad accident on the highway, and the hospital had been a hell-house the entire day.

Of course, Kaoru didn't remember a certain redhead ever having so much as looked at any of the drinks lying around. She wondered, now, just what was up with him that he couldn't drive at least Sano home. He was hellishly annoying when he was drunk.

And herself? Kaoru'd already explained that her being drunk wasn't in anyone else's best interest. She wondered how Kenshin had faired talking with her as long as the thought he did.

Since she was here, Kaoru searched him out. It wouldn't have been hard finding his red head in such a small room, but it was. She didn't see him at all.

Weird…but what wasn't? It was alcohol that was coating the floor like a carpet, and what made her slip. From what she could tell, that was the floor. There wasn't anything else underneath it.

She was sick of this.

"Sano"? she called when she found him lounging in a chair, tilting it back. She wondered how he was staying upright.

"Yeah?"

"Um, I…I think I'm going to head out."

He blinked at her.

"I mean, I had a really good time, but I've got to get going, ok?"

"What? But you just got here!"

"I know, I know," she placated him, not wanting to draw a scene. "But I really have to go. Maybe we can do this again another time, when I don't have to leave so early."

"Aw, alright," he drawled. "But you said we'd do it again, so we will!"

She smiled. "That's great, Sano, but let me ask you something."

"Sure!"

"Is, um…is Kenshin going to show up?"

For a long moment Sano blinked like he was trying to wipe something from his eyes, and when he stopped, looking right into her surprised eyes, he was completely sober.

"I don't know, Missy. You tell me."

She quickly told him good-bye, and to the others, and left. With a chorus of silly boos and hisses, Kaoru fled the room, and stepped right outside into the still dark night.

Running didn't seem to do any good, so she walked, fast.

Home was out of the question. Kaoru was sure of what, or who, would be waiting there for her, and she'd rather not face that again. Once was more than enough.

Maybe it was the adrenaline and fear messing with her, or she just refused to acknowledge any of it before now, but something was defiantly wrong, very out of place. And that was very much an understatement.

Yeah, she was scared, but she wanted, all the sudden, to break down and cry. Just scream and rave and maybe break something, but everything in sight was someone else's belonging. She never appreciated someone breaking her things, so she returned the favor for everyone else. Breaking a few heads of some of the people she knew every once in a while, well, that didn't count.

Besides, the only thing that would break was whatever she was mauling with at the moment, and whatever it would be was usually hers anyway.

_That's right, Kamiya_, she thought,_ just keep it upbeat_. Upbeat, upbeat, upbeat.

Shit.

Was that a glimmer of red hair across the street, ducking into that alleyway? Kaoru'd be damned if it wasn't.

Red hair could be anyone, true, but it was well worth the shot in the long run. The person hadn't been that tall, so it could have been him. It could have been Kenshin.

Darting into the traffic, Kaoru crossed the street without so much as a horn honked at her, but she couldn't stop to wonder about it, or add it to her ever-growing list of things to wonder about later. She had to catch the redhead, and apologize deeply if it wasn't the right one.

The alley, standing at its maw, seemed very long and very dark, but she was only standing there for a second before diving into the black that was suddenly and explicitly outside the forces of light. She thought she saw something way down at the ridiculously long end. They looked like lamps, golden candlelight maybe since they weren't that powerful. There were two of them, little pinpoints that drew her forward as she made no progress in reaching them. They flickered and danced like a wind was tossing them around, and they would even blink out for seconds at a time.

If this redhead was down this alley, he or she, hopefully he, must be running just like she was. Why was there no other set of footfalls? Hers were loud enough to echo, where was this other joker?

It was wishful. She _wished_ it to be Kenshin. She wanted it to be him so bad, and now that it seemed so heavily that it wasn't; that it wasn't anyone or anything, that it was all a trick, that nothing was real.

Kaoru dropped to her knees, not caring if it was too sudden and that she didn't slow down first. She didn't fall over or slide to a halt anyway; she just simply wasn't moving forward anymore. She never had been.

Those lights at the end of the tunnel this alley had become, they weren't there anymore. Behind her was such the same: empty.

She was so confused, again and again. Everything stopped making sense, and she was left unsure if this was nothing but a dream. A dream within a dream? But, then what was the dream, and what was the reality, because _this_ certainly couldn't be it.

Maybe if she wanted it enough—want. If it wasn't wanting, she'd want to never want again—then she would wake from both dream worlds, and be free of this nightmare.

She wouldn't cry, though the thought was there. She'd cry herself to wake when she was little, but tears over something so silly and stupid was just that.

Try something easier, like pain, she thought, and laughed at herself.

That was easy. A pain was already there, and it had grown somewhat, but it still _hurt_.

Now to focus on it…

Kaoru's eyes flew open with the very real feeling of a brush against her chin. Fingers. She jumped, and a very soft mattress sighed with her movement.

The new bed…no monstrous alarm clock…no holes in the fuzzy pink slippers that were slightly less ugly than she wanted.

Kaoru groaned, knowing without looking that everything else was the same: new and completely baffling from an infuriating redhead filled with stories and lies.

Curling into the sheets, Kaoru hid under the covers and bit her lip until she could feel the sharp sting, and silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

Breakdown now, bring hell to whatever earth this was later.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

(((())))

Livid. Angry. Furious. Pissed to high heaven. It all meant the same, and it was all steaming from the ears hidden by a curtain of raven-black hair and boiling in the cauldrons of Kaoru's darken blue eyes.

Sano knew he was treading on some very thin ice that was doing nothing but growing thinner by the second. Hell, the nanosecond. He'd never seen her this mad about anything, and was really starting to become worried.

For one, this was the third time in the past few days that Kaoru'd willingly set foot inside the bar, and after how much she proclaimed her hatred of the place.

Sano was beginning to not like it as much either.

Once Kaoru had finished explaining her problem last night, she glared down at her glass of water and hadn't looked up since.

A tray of cheese fries was sitting between them on the table in the far corner of the bar, as far as Sano could get her out since she refused to waste time by leaving. As inviting as the cheese and grease smothered fries were, Sano dared not touch a single one. It was really difficult for him. There was bacon crumbled on them too.

As far as he knew, this whole deal with Kenshin really messed her up into thinking everything was some weird dream. He couldn't blame her. If he woke up to nice things in his place…well, actually, he wouldn't be complaining so much, not caring where or who the hell it'd all come from as long as he could keep the stuff.

Still, he hadn't actually been over to her apartment to scope things out, see what's up. He probably should, and soon. Sano was uncertain if something wasn't really wrong with her.

"Look," she began slowly and softly. Sano relaxed, fingers twitching for a fry, but he didn't reach. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. You don't deserve it, but you can understand where I'm coming from. Somewhat."

"Somewhat," he agreed. "But, Kaoru…what I don't understand is how you think all of this is a dream."

Her face fell into exasperation. "No. No, Sano. No. I don't need this right now. And of course you'd say that. You wouldn't know any better."

He shook his head. "But," he leaned on the table with an elbow. "But-"

"I said I don't want to hear it!"

A few heads turned toward their table, and Sano's cheek twitched.

"This is insane," he muttered.

"I've been telling you that… You haven't told anyone else about this have you?"

"Would it matter?" he asked, snappish. His mood was fouling a bit.

She agreed, and his mood's knob was tweaked another notch down. "No, I guess it wouldn't. Can you dream while you're in a coma?"

"Let's talk about something else. Anything else besides this nonsense. Like Kenshin. Let's talk about Kenshin!"

Kaoru's frown deepened as he spoke until she was scowling at him.

"Yeah, Kenshin. Now _that's_ an easy subject. I'm beginning to not care anymore, ok? Drop him. Forget about him, Kaoru. Damnit, it's like ever since you met him you've been messed up and I'll be damned if I let it continue."

"Exactly!" she lifted her hands high into the air in a loose touchdown signal, and drunks watching the game roared their approval alongside her, unaware of the truthful events. It was a game alright, but it didn't involve a ball. "That's what I've been thinking, Sanosuke. I'm sick of this!"

Aware that she'd just used his whole name, Sano swallowed his own irritation and let her continue, his scrutiny chipping away bit by bit.

"I just want to find him, somehow, and, just wring some answers out of him!"

Sano's brow lifted as Kaoru acted out her damnation of Kenshin on the glass of water straining in her grip.

Gingerly, so not to train her sights on him with sudden movements, Sano rescued the glass, placing it far from her reach.

"Look," Sano folded his hands, and some of the anger blinked out of her eyes. "You're seriously stressed out, Missy. I think you're taking it a little _too_ far. Oh, we'll get him," he assured her, and then slammed his fist on the table. "But for now, we're going to have a break, Sanosuke Sagara style!"

Kaoru's lips twitched into a smile when Sano kicked his chair back, sauntered to the bar, and returned with a beer for him and a fruity drink for her. He smiled.

"C'mon, Kaoru. Let it go for a bit."

Kaoru stirred the little umbrella around the green mixture, trying to analyze each individual chemical compound in the drink before Sano sighed.

"The mind always works better if you don't think about the problem for a while," he informed her smartly, tipping his glass in the air. Amber liquid sloshed onto the tabletop.

"After the hangover," she smarted back with a twisted little grin.

"Amen, sister!" Sano roared, downing his mug's contents.

Might as well, she thought as Sano laughed in the background. Things weren't going to change within the next couple hours.

(())

With an overzealously giggling Kaoru hanging from his shoulder, Sano stood outside the bar, waiting for the cab he called to show up.

He hadn't watched her like he first intended, and now she was wasted, not to mention his tab had soared within the last few hours. How, even drunk, she managed to only suck down the most expensive drinks was beyond him.

He hoped she wouldn't be mad in the morning, but it was the only and quickest way he knew to have a kicking time without even the brushing of a stressful thought.

Damnit, he also handled his liquor. Unlike the woman he tried to hold upright.

_I take my eyes off her for five minutes_, he growled to himself. _Ok, so it was more like fifteen, but damnit, still!_

"You know," she slurred, placing her hand on his shoulder and blinked. "I'm really tired."

"Couldn't've guessed it, Missy," he slathered her with sarcasm.

"I think I'll sleep," she informed, patting his broad shoulder.

He swore again. "Can it wait until after you get home?"

Kaoru's eyes blinked open quickly. "My bed sounds…sounds real nice."

When the cab finally cranked to a stop in front of the bar, Sano was patting Kaoru's face with his hand, jarring her to stay awake. He growled when he put her in the backseat, and walked around to the driver's side of the car, knocking on the window with his knuckle. It rolled down a little bit.

"Listen, buddy," he growled some more, this time towards the cabbie. "If this ends up being something extremely stupid on my part, then I'm comin' after your ass. You got it? The _only_ reason I'm not driving her myself if cause I can't, so you do it instead." Sano reared back from the window, feeling strangely like this wasn't necessary. Hadn't he decided to ride along with her?

"Anyway, you take her here," Sano handed him a peeled off wrapper of a water bottle he'd found on the ground, and written Kaoru's address, cursing when he had to write over the plastic vigorously to make the ink appear. "And I really trust you with this, so don't screw it up."

"I promise I won't," the cabbie answered softly, rolled the window up, and driving away, leaving Sano standing in the middle of the street with a very blank and confused expression on his face.

He shook his head. He wasn't _that_ drunk to be saying crazy stupid things, but just where the hell did that come from? Well, he didn't feel guilty about letting her go alone. Strangely, he did trust the cabbie, who he didn't even see. A change of heart, maybe? What the hell? It didn't make much sense, but as long as she got home safe, then it wouldn't be a problem. Missy got violent much easier when drunk, so she'd most likely remove parts from the man if he laid a finger on her if she didn't know him…

Wait a minute…

Sano frowned, and got out of the middle of the street, watching where the cab had gone. Alright, he'd already established he wasn't really that drunk, but he could have sworn that the cabbie's voice sounded just like Kenshin.

"Nah," he snorted, walking down the street, not wanting to go back to the bar either.

Kenshin wasn't a taxi driver. He was…whatever the hell he was.

(())

In the back of the cab, Kaoru picked at the worn upholstery until something dawned in her hazy mind.

"Hey!" she called to the cabbie, smacking the back of his headrest with her palm. "Where's Sano? He said he was coming!"

"Don't worry, Miss. He gave me the directions to your home." Without taking his eyes off the rode, a small plastic water bottle wrapper waved in his fingers.

She didn't hear him. "Stop the car! Sano!" she screamed. "I swear, if you come near me-"

"Please calm down," he insisted, quickly tucking her address away and reaching back for her arm. She screamed again, and wriggled to bite his fingers. "Please! Kaoru, calm down!"

Something sharp sank through the fog of intoxication, and Kaoru settled, frowning as she scooted away behind the passenger seat, pressing against the door. She missed hearing the locks click into place.

"K-ken-kenshin?"

Suddenly bright violet eyes were peering like headlights into the rearview mirror at her. "Yes?"

"You got a lot of nerve, comin' out here again after…after leaving like that!"

He shrugged calmly, and the turn signal started clicking before he took a turn. "I couldn't stay away."

Kaoru snorted and crossed her arms, sinking down until her head was resting near the door handle. "Then why'd you have to leave in the first place?" she muttered angrily, pouting.

"That's something completely different," he answered quietly. "And please put your seatbelt on."

Kaoru grumbled about redheads in general as she slowly rose, glaring to make sure he knew she wasn't being a willing subject. He waited until the snap of the buckle clicked.

"Thank you."

The cab ground to a stop, and Kenshin pulled the emergency brake despite the road being flat, and unbuckled himself.

Kaoru was dozing lightly when he reached for her, undoing her seatbelt, and lifting her easily into his arms. She immediately protested, not even fully reawake yet.

"I walk for myself, Kenshin!"

He set her down for the most part. She was moving her feet, which made her happy, but most of her weight was on his shoulder and the arm he kept under her elbow.

She looked up at him with a small pinch of a scowl between her eyes and on the bridge of her nose. He almost smiled, but asked what was wrong instead.

"I'm saying this, but if you laugh, then I'll drop you so hard, by God, you'll-"

"Alright, alright," he placated, and her cheeks puffed out with air. "But, just to let you know, you're beginning to sound like Sano."

The air blew out of her mouth in Kenshin's face. It calmed her some, and she gave him yet another demanding glare, to which he nodded his head.

"I won't laugh. I promise."

"You have…very pretty eyes," she blurted. "They look like flowers," she added, then lowered her head like an embarrassed child. He could practically feel the heat radiating off her cheeks.

Her worries of his laughter were needless; Kenshin didn't think about chuckling. He only frowned, his eyes casting worry shadows under them.

"Kaoru, can you tell me which floor?" Kenshin asked after taking a shaking breath when they stepped into the lobby. It was worse than he thought…

"Hey!" a gruff voice rubbed the air the wrong way. Kenshin bristled silently and turned. _The landlord, no doubt,_ Kenshin thought, keeping the scowl from reaching his eyes. "What're you doing in here? You don't live here." His beady, little eyes ran over him, jumping to Kaoru next, who had fallen asleep once again. On her feet of all places.

Kenshin swallowed again, biting his tongue for a moment more before speaking. Some things shouldn't be changed, he reminded himself.

"If you'll forgive me, but I'm taking her up to her apartment. I drove her home from the bar."

The little man waved his dirty hand, but continued to follow them with his gaze as Kenshin hefted Kaoru up the stairs.

"Kaoru." Kenshin patted her face lightly. "Kaoru, wake up. I need your key."

"Mmm…"

"Kaoru!" he whispered, his breath blowing into her ear.

Her eyes opened wide. "What?"

"Your key. You're home."

"Oh," she said dumbly, fumbling with her little purse to find her key.

Kenshin chuckled, helping her stay upright with a hand on her lower back. "Sounding like Sano again," he played.

Kaoru glared and dropped her keys.

"I'll-" Kenshin said, bending to pick them up at the same moment Kaoru swore and lurched towards the floor.

Their heads collided with a solid thunk.

Kaoru jerked up, holding her head, but lost her balance and felt into the wall, flinging her arm out to steady herself. Kenshin grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to her feet, keys in hand. Kaoru tripped over her own foot and fell again, only forward this time and a hard chest caught her.

Intoxication at its worst. Kaoru stumbled over her apology too, rubbing her head as Kenshin quietly fingered a spot on his head also. Not at a loss for words, and he did chuckle accordingly. Kaoru was just too drunk and noisy at the moment to notice its fakeness.

Inside her apartment, Kaoru made a beeline for the bathroom, and Kenshin felt it safe to let her navigate in the familiar territory. He surveyed her place. It was exactly as he had imagined it, as he'd seen it. What a mess, and something he knew would be such an easy fix if only Kaoru would just accept it. He was glad when he'd decided against a complete fulfillment, or almost complete. As complete as he could make her life, and the things in it that didn't include himself.

No matter how much she'd acted like him, Kaoru wasn't Sano who'd see something better, something new that'd been offered to him free of charge and readily accept it without any questions. The tall brunette had proven time and time again that he never cared where the stuff came from, or what happened to the old stuff, as long a he could keep the new. It was easy being friends with him because of that.

But Kaoru…

Kaoru had to get to the bottom of it, and Kenshin was wondering just how long it would be before she did. He knew that Sano'd explained what Kenshin told him the first time Kenshin replaced an entire toilet in Sano's bathroom because he'd been so fed up with having to plunge the thing over and over. Sano had asked, and didn't believe that Kenshin had paid for an entire toilet to be replaced, the lines to the septic tanks and everything.

She knew that much and she'd tried out the advice Kenshin had given Sano. So she had to at least believe some of it.

If she didn't, Kenshin knew, she'd have clobbered him in the car whether he was driving or not. It's proven to be a risk well worth taken.

She groaned when she came from the bathroom, holding her head.

"I've a knot on my head," she said, looking at him with blurry eyes. "Thanks."

Kenshin carefully approached her, weary of the surly expression, and placed the bag of ice he'd gotten from the freezer, wrapped in a dish towel, on the spot. She flinched.

"Ow," she growled.

"Sorry."

He stood over her for a long time, holding the ice until most of it melted. When she'd get too cold, she'd shoo his hand away, and he'd place his other over the same spot gingerly to warm it before replacing the ice. After a while, she slept.

Ice melted into slush, Kenshin lifted her into his arms again and carried her to her room. A bit of pride swelled in his chest, and he allowed it for a moment when he looked at the wonderful bed he'd given her. The feeling was gone when he placed her on the covers, and she grabbed at the pillow her head rested on.

His hand, cold from the icepack, hovered over her hair, imagining the feel, the texture of her glossy locks and how easily his fingers would run through such silk. But, his fingers curled into a tight fist, and slowly drew away. His eyes were drawn to her porcelain face, the delicate curve of her nose, her black eyelashes that exploded her blue gem eyes in color, and her full lips puckering slightly in her slumber.

She was dreaming…

Her eyes darted under their lids, and Kenshin gripped her arm, startling her awake.

"Kenshin," she growled, rolling over to put her back to his rudeness. "Lemme alone, please."

"Kaoru, what did you dream? Just now."

She looked over her shoulder. "What?"

"What were you seeing in your dream?"

"How'd you know-?"

"You're eyes were shifting."

Kaoru contemplated that, but she dropped it soon. "I don't remember. You woke me up."

"Listen to me, Kaoru," he pleaded as she turned from him, plopping on her pillow. "You can reach it while you're mind is…freed, I guess you could say." She was slipping again. "Kaoru, you can reach out without any limitations, just picture this place and yourself. Picture yourself here. Can you see it?"

Her slurred affirmation was all he needed. A second later, and she was out. Kenshin stood quickly, closed his eyes, and the world around him began to blur.

(((())))

Well, what's my excuse?

Um…alien abduction? :D

Not necessarily, though 'abduction' would be a very interesting way to put it. An abduction of the mind into a new fandom. It's taken over my mind with pairings galore and so much fighting goodness! If anyone else likes Bleach, check out the couple stories I have posted at the moment.

It's not real fair to neglect and old love but…at least I haven't abandoned RK…I hope…considering I've had both these chapters done for a long time… For those who enjoy my RK stories, I dedicate these two chapters. And also ask for forgiveness, but I don't want to push my luck.

Thank you to anyone who has stuck around with this for so long.


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own anything.

(((())))

When Kaoru opened her eyes, the last of the dark blurs around her were morphing into her apartment. She blinked slowly, and everything was fine. Sort of. Her head hurt in a dull ache, and she winced when her fingers brushed the hair back from her forehead.

What had she walloped her forehead…

"Kenshin?" she asked a silent and barely noticeable shadow across her room where the light from her lamp and glaring alarm clock couldn't reach.

Before he could answer, Kaoru whipped to look at the clock again, eyes wide.

"What the-?"

"I know what you're thinking, Kaoru," Kenshin said, his voice deeper and a bit more ragged than she remembered, like he hadn't spoken in a while. "And the answer is yes."

"Yes? Yes to what?"

"You have that answer." He hadn't moved yet, but she could see a faint outline of his hair hanging over his eyes.

She swallowed. "A dream?"

He nodded. "This is a dream. Somewhat."

Kaoru laughed. "Somewhat? Oh! Great! I've got a talking shadow trying to explain things! You're doing a great job, by the way."

Eyes, in a cold golden glimmer, peered at her calmly from the shadows. Kenshin continued as if she hadn't spoken at all.

"This is a dream, but it isn't. If someone were to look at your bed now, your new one, not that ragged piece of junk you're sitting on now, they wouldn't find you."

"I _fell_ asleep, Kenshin. You said it yourself!"

"No. I never said you fell asleep. You're not there, you are here."

"You know what, shut up. Just shut up. You're not making any sense, which is fine, but you'd better not be in my apartment when I wake up because I'm pretty sure I'll still be mad at you."

A bit of laughter filtered into his gaze. "I'll hold you to that."

"I've had enough of this," she muttered, flopping on her bed as it squeaked and squealed. "I'm going back to sleep. Maybe I'll wake up."

"_No_!" Kenshin lunged from the shadows in a blur, and Kaoru didn't have time to shriek before she was on her feet, his hands tight around her arms as his wide unusual eyes stared in fear. "Do not sleep while you're here, Kaoru. You cannot fall asleep. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Yes, Kenshin, I get it, now let go of me!"

Kenshin let her go, and she stepped back from him. His eyes were wild as he rubbed his sweat-drenched palms against his pant legs.

_His palms_. Kaoru blinked, but his palms were dripping sweat still. Her arms sported wet handprints. _His hands…and _what _is he wearing?_

Kenshin finally noticed her staring, stepped back, and bowed slightly. "Forgive me, Kaoru, but you must understand that your head can never touch a pillow here. They will be very tempting at times."

Dressed in garb that Kaoru had only seen in plays and in old history books, Kenshin stood, looking all like a samurai with his hair tied high on his head, grey hakama and a dark blue gi. What was missing was a couple of old katana at his waist, and presto! She'd have a natural samurai standing before her.

He was assessing her expression with those eerie eyes narrowed down to slits, their own light lazily streaming.

"I realize there is a lot to doubt," he said finally. His voice still hadn't recovered its smoothness, but remained a bit rough, reminding her all the sudden about his calloused hands that had brushed her arms. It was that feeling turned into sound, and it ran a sharp shiver from her spine down to her fingertips.

Kenshin held out his hand, which was not drenched and dripping with sweat, and waited. "I know you will learn better if you are shown instead of being persuaded through conversation."

Kaoru took his hand slowly, wrapping her fingers around his without thinking about it. She gasped when his eyes' color started to spark.

"So," she began when he took her from her room and into her apartment complex hall. And didn't know where to continue. She gnawed her bottom lip. "Why can't I…sleep, anyway?"

The eye he sent to look over his shoulder positively glowed like a predator, a lazing predator at the moment, but a hunter nonetheless.

"That would be best explained after you've decided if you trust me or not."

"I trust you," she blurted. He stopped.

Her lip was between her teeth again, and she felt like a child almost. Or was it the feeling a prey has when it knows what's hiding in grass just waiting for them to make the wrong move?

"You don't," he replied bluntly. "That doesn't bother me, for now. You have to make your mind up soon, my little dreamer. I'm not sure, but going back may ride on that."

"You're not sure? Not sure of what? What do you mean going back?"

Kenshin placed a single long finger against her lips, barely a breath from touching. His eyes were calm as he watched her uncross her eyes to look at him.

"I will explain later, little dreamer. Later. Be patient."

Kaoru huffed, and wriggled her hand free from his. "Little dreamer?"

His grin was way too mischievous to come from the thoughtful man she'd met. "It has merit, I think. You're dreams have always been big, Kaoru."

Kaoru sighed behind a red face, and crossed her arms. "What do you know about my dreams?"

"I know about many people's dreams, Kaoru. That's because I'm here. Come, I'll show you."

When she stepped from her apartment building, she expected…and that was the problem. She expected to see everything as it was before. She expected to see the street that she lived on, or to see some strange land that her imagination had concocted.

When it wasn't, she was shocked.

It would be impossible for her to forget any of this when she woke up. It was all so vivid and completely real.

It was her street, but it wasn't…normal, was the only way she could think of to describe it. There was sunlight, and it was bright and sparkled. It moved like an animate thing, turning loops of soft yellow in the air, twisting, spinning. Kaoru noticed, however, there was no sun in the blue and pink sky.

Over some places, many places actually, there were blackened spots like night. Some of them moved like a thick liquid down the multicolored street or over the sidewalks that shifted and moved like living quicksand. In these black blobs were stars. Some were bright, and others were so dim that Kaoru could barely see them. The light danced around them, and struck at them at times, trying to break into the darkness, but could not.

"Kaoru," Kenshin called her softly, standing at the bottom step of her building, looking up at her with eyes that were cold and almost empty. She shivered. "You are with me, therefore you are safe."

The brown and tan substance of the sidewalk churned like thick batter and she swallowed, nearly screaming when Kenshin stepped down into it. He didn't sink. It solidified where his feet rested, and flowed around him.

Her earlier questions and thoughts forgotten, Kaoru gripped his hand, then his sleeve when she slowly lowered herself to the walk, waiting for it to suddenly begin sucking her down. It didn't, just as he assured her. Even so, she refused to let go of him, and, if she'd bothered to notice, he wasn't minding at all.

"Kenshin, what is that?" she asked, reaching her hand out towards a ray of light. It stopped twirling and looked at her fingers, probing with a small tendril until satisfied. It split like water as it ran over her hand.

Kaoru pulled back, lingering lights twinkling on her tingling, warm skin.

"Dreams," he said in a voice filled with deep emotion. One she couldn't place, and didn't think she could. "Or, the thoughts of dreams. They all stream from above and into the minds of the people. They carry wishes and hopes with them."

He stopped as a black hole in the light slowly moved by, and his eyes flashed with pain. "These are people who have forgotten or given up dreams. Here," he pointed to a dark spot with a scant number of bright stars twinkling in it, "is one who has given up his dream, but not forgot it. Hope still shines in him, and if even one of these bright stars reach the edge of this black boundary, then the light will be able to shine through again." He turned away from the spot, and continued to walk. "That happens more nowadays than it did in the past, but…"

"It's still hard for you to see, isn't it?"

Kaoru thought she saw a blink of violet in his solemn gaze, but when he faced her, his eyes were gold and dark.

"Yes. It is."

"There are so many of them," she observed. "And all of these are people?"

"They are. Unless they are here, like you are, we do not see their physical bodies, but their dreams."

"When you say dreams, does that mean like, goals in life, or dreams when they sleep?"

"Both," he replied easily. "Nightmares are also darkness, but they are not near as large, nor are they permanent. These mainly consist of the making of lifelong dreams. This light helps answer the question, 'what do you want to be when you grow up?'"

"This is…very interesting, Kenshin, but-"

"How does this prove anything?" he finished for her. "Frankly, I don't believe it would either. Streets of many colors, sidewalks of moving sand and dirt, living light? It's all what sleeping dreams could be made of, isn't it? Well, it's a perfect name for such a place."

Kaoru recalled the name and tried it. "Dreamworld?"

Kenshin nodded. "Dreamworld. But that's all very, like you said, interesting. Let me show you what I know, little dreamer, then, when I take you back you can ask me anything you like. I guarantee that I'll answer each and every one."

"That's very cocky of you, but we'll see. I don't have to latch myself onto you the whole time we're here, do I?"

Kenshin's chuckled rumbled. "If you want to."

She let him go, waited, and, when nothing happened, glared. "Alright, dream-boy," she taunted. "Show me what you got."

A fine, dark brow slowly rose to hide under his wild bangs.

Kaoru waved her hand to whisk the look away, but to also fan her heating face. "You know what I mean, Kenshin. Get that look off your face. No funny business."

The glint immediately snuffed out, and the gold in his eyes dimmed considerably. He was frowning, deeply, and it seemed to rumble through him, stretching out from his haunting eyes. Kaoru froze when he fixed his gaze on her, question and surprised anger springing from it. His hand twitched toward his empty waist, and a fearful thought sprang into her mind.

_A sword. He was reaching for a sword._

Before her sudden fear could take root, it was done. His eyes, golden, were worried but hard. His lips had pulled into a taunt line.

"Forgive me," he rasped. "Yes, I had once owned blades, but, as you can see, I no longer have them. I would not have used them anyway, Kaoru. Old habits do die very hard, no matter how much we will them away.

"I think this was enough," he declared abruptly, taking her hand in his cold, trembling fingers.

"K-kenshin? I thought you were-"

"I'm very sorry, Kaoru, but we don't have the time now. Perhaps again later," he tried a smile over his shoulder, but his eyes were still hard and quickly loosing their luster.

It was good they hadn't walked so far from Kaoru's apartment. She wouldn't have to wake in some strange space, or across town. Sano would have gotten a surprise if she suddenly appeared next to him on his walk. In fact, that was exactly where Kenshin had been headed. Having her wake someplace else would have made it all make sense, or at least Kenshin had hoped. Now, that would have to wait.

He cursed heavily his stupidity.

"…isn't a later?" Kaoru was saying. Kenshin closed his eyes tightly. To not hear her when she was speaking, he must be extremely close.

She tugged at his hand. "You'll leave, or be gone when I wake up, and then what? All of this will be nothing but a silly dream. Very real, but all silly. Oh, I knew I shouldn't have let my guard down, but I did. Great."

She was rambling. That wasn't a very good sign.

"You know what," she snarled, and yanked her hand from his. He halted like a brick wall had suddenly leapt from the ground in front of him. His eyes were wide and nearly all black when he turned around. "Just forget about it, alright? I've had enough of this. I want to go home, so I'll go home, and I'll go home my way."

"Kaoru-"

"Don't 'Kaoru' me, Kenshin I've had it. This whole scheme of yours, if it really was yours, is not funny. It never was funny, and when I wake up and find you, believe you me, I _will_ find you, you're going to be real sorry for meeting me at that party.

"Don't," she held her finger up. "I know by saying that means that I believe you switched everything out in my apartment. Compared to this, that's completely believable. This just isn't. So, we're settling this in the real world so that I can forget about it, stop having dreams about you, and move on. This isn't _working_ and, damn it, that stupid kiss never helped either. If you were going to be such a jerk and leave, why'd you have to go and pull that one on me?"

Kenshin was dumbfounded, and that time, Kaoru was sure his eyes were violet. When he blinked, they were gold. He blinked again, and they were purple.

Purple, and his tried not to blink again. It seemed like he was fighting himself about something. His hands were twitching again, and his feet shuffled like he was uncomfortable.

Planted stubbornly, Kaoru was a hard rock to move, but Kenshin knew, and she knew, that he'd already done that once. It was a bit easier this time. She warned him when he took his first step, the gems of her eyes flaring, but that resolve was dimmed each time he took a step, a slow step while he held her with his odd and changing eyes. When he stood before her, they were amber and deep, smoldering and calling out to her in a strange way. The tense muscles of her folded arms relaxed with each stroke his hands ran down then up, coaxing them to open.

If she did, it was an acceptance of some sort, a sort Kaoru couldn't quite figure out while holding onto his eyes, his look, that scar she had somehow never noticed until now that burned a dull redness on his cheek. One arm still across her chest as a last barrier that he had no intention of breaking himself, Kaoru reached and traced a finger down a stroke of that wicked mark, and then the other. His skin jumped under her touch, and his eyes expressed more than Kaoru thought she cared to know.

It was a quick decision, one that didn't call for any regrets at the moment. More of her fingers traced that mark as her other hand dropped. Kenshin stepped forward, bringing her close as his arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her head was tucked to his chest; she felt him take a full breath.

His arms slipped lower, down her back, pooling at the base of her spine. His eyes were so close to hers, they were the only thing she could see.

"Because, you see, little dreamer," he said slowly, his breath puffing over her lips, voice rough. "I've made up my mind; I've broken all the rules. I'm not letting you go."

His hand trailed up to her neck where his fingers delved greedily into her hair, pulling her enough for him to touch her lip in a tease. He pressed with his lips, brushed with his tongue, but he slipped away every time she tried to deepen it.

Kaoru almost growled when she snaked her hands up his chest and into his hair to grip tightly and make him stay. He wasn't going anywhere. Her grip loosened considerably as he tasted and brushed her tongue with his own.

"Now," he said when he felt her to be fully reprimanded. "No more talk of silliness, little dreamer. I'll have none of it. You can go, but only I can take you back. I'll be waiting."

Kaoru nodded before her eyes rolled suddenly and her head fell to his shoulder. He held her weight easily when she collapsed.

"Now, Kenshin, what's this?"

He swore at the voice, jolly almost, like Christmas, but thick and deep like a drunk. There was a lilt to the voice that changed each time he spoke, ranging from high to very deep in a single sentence.

The redhead didn't answer, but his body hummed with readiness as he clung to Kaoru, eyes searching for where the familiar voice had come. Of course, he was impossible to find, even for the likes of Kenshin.

"Well, then bring the girl, I suppose. You're in a bit of a pickle, Kenshin, my boy. You said it yourself, you've broken the rules. Now come. No, now don't run. I said bring her too. Come, come. Don't make me say it thrice."

(((())))

Um, this is another chapter that I've had for a long time just sitting on my computer. Now that I've reread it to get back into the flow, I do miss RK. So, I'll just have to balance everything out, cause I love Bleach to death (XD please laugh at the horrible pun if you get it) but I just can't let go of an old love.

…Hopefully that doesn't end up being a lie. I have the tendency to become transfixed to one fandom and one fandom only. ^^'

Feel free to bug me about it.


	6. Chapter 6

RK isn't mine, thank you very much. And thank to those who are actually still reading this!

(((())))

When Kaoru woke she hadn't expected the ceiling to be orange. Or for the couch-like lounging chair to have clouds moving across it. Blue eyes frowning, she rose and the room tilted with her until she stopped. It righted itself.

"Good after evening," an over-joyous voice called from the door, "Or whatever time it happens to be, really. Oh, do stand. You'll get used to the disorientation in a moment."

Kaoru watched the spindly man warily.

"Now, now. No thinking of running off, little girl. That won't do. No, I've something different in mind. Come, come," he held out a ridiculously long hand. Each finger had an extra joint, so when they curled they looked like a spider's legs. "Very well, then, just follow. Stay close or you'll get lost now. Can't have that."

They didn't seem to be traveling anywhere; the hall never changed scenery.

"You're probably wondering who I am," he said, turning his head around completely with a lopsided, sneering grin. "The Keeper."

"The—the Dreamkeeper?"

"No!" he barked a laugh. "Just the Keeper. Now I will ask you a question. What are you doing here?" His tone changed quickly, starling her.

"It—well it wasn't my idea!"

"Oh," the Keeper said easily, arms swinging freely about his small, round body. "Oh, oh, oh. Then the rules have been broken, Kenshin my boy. Tsk tsk. I hadn't expected this from you."

When the Keeper turned, Kenshin was there, eyes on the floor but hard and glowing.

"What to do, what to do," the Keeper danced around the redhead.

Kaoru suddenly couldn't speak.

"Now, Kenshin," the Keeper said in mock seriousness, lifting Kenshin's tight chin with a sharp finger. "You promised me loyalty." He sounded hurt, but the humor in his eyes said otherwise. "You promised such a long time ago. You promised me. And now you've gone and broken it. It wounds me so."

With a flick of the wrist, the Keeper reopened a line of the cross on Kenshin's cheek, spilling fresh blood that instead of dripping began to dance through the air. The redhead uttered not a sound, only glared at the floor.

The Keeper nearly clapped with glee, watching the blood loop and twirl. "Look! Girl, look! What a story the blood of man has to tell."

He snapped his fingers, which sounded like twigs breaking, and the liquid stilled and morphed into shapes. One was distinctly male with a high, loose topknot, much like Kenshin wore. Another was a woman, long-haired and timid, but her stance was strong. For a moment Kaoru wondered if this sick display was Kenshin and herself, but realized, from the expression bordering on horror in Kenshin's eyes that this was something else. Something related to him.

"When your own dreams are squelched by your own hands," the Keeper said gleefully, watching as the small Kenshin drew his katana, swinging it with amazing grace and power, "Then where does that…leave…you?" The blood Kenshin turned, staggered as if wounded, and lunged. As the sword pierced the woman, the blood drops splattered, erasing the image. The Keeper placed his hand on Kenshin's shaking shoulder, leaning close to speak. "Empty? Alone, maybe? Like you agreed to be, my boy."

"I have worked for my atonement," Kenshin growled. His harsh face fell, however, when he glanced up to ask, "How long until she forgives me?"

"Couldn't say. Who's to say she will or won't? Who's to say you won't repeat what you've done before?" Kenshin's glower flared. "Who's to say that this lovely young woman, who you've grown attached to I see, can't stand to see the blood on your hands?"

Instantly Kenshin's hands ran thick, dripping red liquid. The second slash on his cheek opened, spilling so much more blood than humanly possible.

Kaoru's stomach turned.

"Kenshin, my boy," the Keeper admonished, "You're scaring her. That's not what you wanted, is it? Apologize!"

Glowing, insanely hurt eyes tore Kaoru's heart open when the redhead finally did look at her, but she had no voice to scream or to comfort. She could only gaze upon the twice broken man as he so quickly swallowed the assumptions and foul seeds the Keeper so easily planted in his mind. How could he think of her in such a way? She'd never simply abandon a friend, an odd one at that, but since when did normalcy dictate her life?

"Oh, cute!" the Keeper quailed, "Girl, now, that's not the way it works. A friend. Ha!"

"Kaoru," Kenshin whispered when he finally found his voice, "I'm sorry…so sorry."

Don't be, she wanted to scream. Don't be sorry; there's nothing to be sorry for after you've been forgiven.

"Oh, good," the Keeper nodded, suddenly serious, "Now that we're settled, I have a task for you, my dear," he said to Kaoru, "Something quick since there's no time and Kenshin has plenty to do since he's been so negligent lately. Young men and their fancies," he chuckled highly to himself. Take a swift step in front of her, the Keeper wiped Kenshin's visage clean of blood, but the man's hands still trembled.

Kaoru wondered just how long the Keeper had kept Kenshin in this disgustingly harnessed state, and repeatedly reminded him of his downfalls and mistakes while giving dreams to so many others. She wondered what Kenshin's dreams had been, and what they were now.

"Girl!" the Keeper snapped her from her reverie, waving a huge hand before her eyes, "Good, I have your attention. Now before you speak, let me say this. You want to go home, right? You're so very tired of this mess he's made of your once swell life, no confusion," he leaned into her ear, clasping each shoulder in one long-fingered hand, "So tell me what it is you want, what you really want, huh? Say the word and this nuisance is gone from your life for good."

That's what she wanted. It's what she wanted because Kenshin had stepped in and changed things without asking her. Little or no, Kaoru never appreciated another's help if she could very well help herself. It was her life, not his. _That_ was what she wanted.

Or was it?

Looking into Kenshin's eyes, she wasn't sure anymore. For herself.

"What if I said that I wanted him," she pointed steadily at the deeply shocked Kenshin, "to go back with me, and everything keep going as it was."

The Keeper was even taken aback. He detached his fingers one-by-one before pacing between the two, rubbing his chin. Kenshin stared, aghast, but Kaoru only offered hm a weak smile.

"Alright," the Keeper said finally, joyous once again, and pranced to Kenshin's side, and walloped him on the side of the head.

"Hey!" Kaoru moved forward, but the floor suddenly clasped her feet steadfast, "That was a foul move!"

"Oh, hush, girl. It didn't even hurt him enough for him to notice. But notice this."

Her eyes widened when the Keeper moved from her view. Kenshin's eyes were now two colors, one gold and one the more familiar violet-purple.

"If you want him back so bad," the Keeper said snidely, "then pick which one you want. The killer with golden eyes, or the broken man with violet ones?"

Choose? How could she choose something like that for Kenshin? Of course, she knew the broken man, had seen him moments ago, and the proclaimed killer with a cold stare…well, she believed it to a point and had seen him too. Seen them both at once, in the real world outside this Dreamworld. If what Kenshin had been in his past created his present self, then leaving either of those out would surely change him. He wouldn't be the Kenshin she knew. He wouldn't be the giving man with a sadden smile underneath the calm façade, a man who was as strange as he was knowledgeable and surprisingly comforting to be around.

Even if that kiss meant nothing, even if he left and didn't come back, Kaoru wanted him away from this place for good.

"Both," she said.

The Keeper frowned.

"What?"

"Or should I say 'him?'"

"That wasn't your option—"

"Since when are simple requests made from someone else's options?" she demanded, "I said him. Or both if you want it that way. Either way, I'm asking for Kenshin as a whole, not in parts."

"Interesting," the Keeper muttered after a moment, "Very interesting. Fine," he shrugged, "Fine. Take him if you really want. I've grown tired of him anyway. You're a very lucky boy, Kenshin. It isn't everyday that someone decides to replace a Dreamkeeper. You're free to go." He latched onto Kaoru's arm, startling her, "As for you, come along then. I'd better show you how things work around here, and what burden you'll be taking."

"W-what!?" Kaoru stammered.

"Stop," Kenshin glowered, catching the Keeper by the thin wrist.

"What," the Keeper snapped, "You have your leave, now leave."

Kenshin shook his head, "I have a request I've never taken that you promised me after Tomoe died."

The Keeper huffed, tossing Kaoru's arm from his grasp, and glared, "Another loophole, huh? I've slipped up somewhere. Oh well. If you must then fine. Free each other and go live happily ever after for all I care. I'm just the Keeper after all. I've no interest in your dreams and hopes, only for the benefit of this world. But tell me this: where am I to find another worker?"

"I think he's answered to you long enough," Kaoru defended, glaring while rubbing the bruises on her arm. Kenshin's fingers lightly brushed the softened skin.

"Away with you both!" the Keeper demanded, waving a hand.

Kaoru opened her eyes in her darkened room with a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Kenshin?"

"Hm?"

"That…that wasn't a dream, was it?"

He pulled away from her, peering with his differently colored eyes and confirming her fears without a word. She sighed.

"What now?"

"What do you want?"

"What do _you_ want?" she countered.

Kenshin peered at his hands a moment, then up into her eyes. She smiled, but he couldn't return it. Not yet.

"I want to stay," he said, pained, "but…"

"You need time to think," she finished, "I understand. You've been trapped for a while, haven't you?"

"Years and years," he confirmed softly, "Too long. I couldn't be free. Not after I destroyed the dreams of another. Who was I to make my own dreams reality after that?"

"I don't think you were ever meant to enslave yourself for atonement," Kaoru said after a short pause, "Asking for forgiveness is simple."

"Getting it is not."

"How could you really know without asking?"

He paused.

Kaoru reached for his scarred cheek and smiled.

"So go ask. And I'll wait for you to come back."

Taking her hand in his, Kenshin nodded solemnly, but with a flicker of hope in his magnificent eyes.

"I will."

(())

Sano scratched his head, leaning back in his chair as Kaoru took a very long sip from her drink.

"That doesn't make any sense," he blurted.

"It doesn't have to. I just thought you of all people would maybe believe some of what I said."

The brunette nodded his unruly head and shrugged with a wily grin.

"I guess in a way I do. Got any idea when he'll be back?"

Kaoru shook her head, "No, but he has all the time he needs. I'm not worried for him."

"Yeah," Sano bounced his eyebrows, "Sure."

Teasing aside, Kaoru waited eagerly for Kenshin's return. Partly because of that kiss, yes, but mostly so she could see Kenshin overcome his demons and take a hold of his dreams once again.

"What was with the weird eyes?" Sano asked.

Kaoru thought a second before answering.

"Proof that who we are is the same as who we've been, and that he has a chance to begin anew if he really wants to."

Sano blinked, then chuckled, standing to get a refill.

"Whatever you say, Missy."

Sano didn't get how true her words were, but that was ok. Kaoru knew. She knew Kenshin would come back, and things would unfold as they would and change with a mere thought, good or bad, and that such an easy and simple task would eventually steer a wild course though life. And that was alright with her.

End

(((())))

-Is shot-

Um, that wasn't so abrupt, right...? That's the ending I had planned, I promise! Just remember that I've procrastinated, neglected, and been caught up in another fandom for some time now...

–Is shot-

But really, remember that it's been a very long time since I started this story and for a good while I had it on my abandoned list until I suddenly decided to pick it up again. By that time I'd pretty must lost anything else I had planned for this story... So the question is should I have just left it or is the ending ok enough to get me off the hook? :D.....

In any case, a huge thank you AGAIN to those who have stuck around this long. And really, it's been a long time but I never got any complaint or threat (which, I won't lie, probably would have helped XD) from anyone. Thank you all so much! You've been a great support, really! I'm the horrible one for leaving you all hanging like that. I apologize, but will say if you're interested in Bleach go check out some of the stuff I have.

Thank you again, again!

HH-san


End file.
